The Winship Cancer Institute (WCI) has solicited extensive input from both external and internal advisory groups for planning and evaluation purposes during the P20 Planning Grant period, and will continue these advisory groups in the future. A national External 'Advisory Board was established in 2002 as part of the initial P20 funding and has grown and changed to meet additional needs for programmatic input. Internal advisory groups include senior leadership in the University and Woodruff Health Sciences Center as well as a WCI Board of Advisors composed of lay members of the community and patient advocates. External, internal, and national benchmarking practices have been combined to evaluate our progress and to inform and help direct the strategic planning process for the Winship Cancer Institute. In addition to the qualitative input from WCI advisory groups, a system of quantitative metrics to objectively evaluate programs, cores, and other components and strategies of the WCI has been developed. These measures will be applied to each of these elements during the implementation of the WCI Strategic Plan and its associated initiatives and activities.